Michael Whalen’s 5 Tips for Scoring TV & Film
For composers, the process of being hired to score television and film projects has seemed elusive since the dawn of the movie business. Many successful composers may brush off their success to luck, but it’s about preparation and knowing the professional etiquette of scoring for TV & Film.
Even in the midst of the pandemic, composers are still being hired and projects are still being finished. In fact, audio post-production is still booming during the COVID-19 crisis since so much of the industry was already working at home and/or could be moved from large public studios to garages, basements and attics all over the world.
So, let’s assume that you can attract the interest of a director and/or producer who believes that your music is the right fit for their project. Now that you are home looking at the video for the first time, here are 5 tips for making your score into a winner.
1. Listen
A composer’s ability to listen to their directors, listen for the characters and the narrative of the film, listen past all the terrible “temporary music” that is used by editors and a composer’s ability to listen to their instincts can be the difference between being a great composer and just a decent one. You can always tell a composer who is in trouble because they are always talking, explaining and trying to force their creative point of view onto the production. You want to listen from generosity and walk into the project without any preconceived ideas.
A composer’s biggest “superpower” is their ability to listen and to “hear” the subtext of a project, to notice details which can lead to major themes and character leitmotifs and to know when to speak, and when not to. I spend most of the early part of working on a film listening. Even when a director asks me early on for my “ideas”, I don’t speak until I am ready to start laying out my battle plan. I say: “I am not quite ready to give you my ideas yet.”
2. Communicate
Even while you are listening, you must communicate with your director and/or producer. In many cases, they have been working on their film for years before you came along. You need to honor that time and experience. Many young composers start spouting their ideas straightaway. Most directors want to make sure that you have heard their ideas before anything happens. Therefore, listen carefully and take notes. Ask questions. Make sure you understand completely the context and the content of what they are saying. Remember, listening is the most important part of communication.
You also need to connect with the film editor who is incredibly important to you. Communicating with them and starting to create a musical vocabulary for the film is essential. They might have their own ideas about what the score should sound like that might be encapsulated in the “temp music” that the editor has been adding to reels of the movie.
If it’s a larger production, you might have a whole team of people in the music department that you need to communicate with effectively: the music editor, music supervisor and the music coordinator. These people can make your life a dream or a nightmare. Start communicating!
3. Explore
Now that you have listened, as you approach writing your first cue, consider exploring what the film NEEDS musically versus immediately reaching for whatever “style” or genre that you think you write in. You may find yourself writing music in a language that you have never worked in before because that is what the movie needs. I worked on a horror/thriller and I thought I was having a musical “out of body experience” for a month until the picture was complete. Let yourself explore. Surprise yourself. Great composers can “hear” what the film needs musically, and they respond with it done - beautifully.
4. Collaborate
Now that your first ideas are starting to take shape, now you present them to the director. Be ready to have your ideas change and also be ready to go to bat for those same ideas. You will listen to the conversation carefully and you’ll know what kind of conversation to have but the key is to collaborate. Everybody on the creative team is trying to make the best film they can and having people ask for changes or giving you constructive criticism isn’t personal. Frankly, this is where a lot of first-time composers jump off the bus of scoring because they think it's too intense and they don’t want to “compromise” their artistic vision. It’s all about creating a conversation where you may have things pointed out for you that you didn’t see, or someone might have a note that opens-up a whole new tract of musical themes. This is a huge opportunity as an artist to have your vision expanded. Take the opportunity. Be open. Be generous. Be a collaborator.
5. Execute
So, now you’ve had your ideas approved. Now things can actually begin! No, seriously! Now is the time for you to execute those “big” ideas and make it work with the picture (which is constantly changing), the dialog and the sound effects (which you won’t hear finished until after the music is completed). This is the time that you discover whether the money you got to cover musicians, studio time and everything else is anywhere close to reality. If you are working on an visual effects-driven picture, you might not see many scenes finished or even roughly rendered while you are writing and recording. Part of being a professional situation is shrugging off these circumstances and doing great work with a sense of humor and a willingness to be of service. At the end of the day, being a composer is about being of service to the story being told. A story is being told and music is just part of how it is being told. Is your score moving the story forward or not? That’s the bottom line. Good luck!
About Michael Whalen
Two-time Emmy-award winner Michael Whalen has done scores for hundreds of television shows and series, dozens of feature films and thousands of advertisements. He just completed his 33rd solo album Sacred Spaces, available everywhere to stream or buy.
